1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for installing a small-sized removable memory card, such as a trans-flash memory card, in a terminal, and more particularly, to a socket for installing a trans-flash memory card in a terminal, the socket providing a reliable connection between the trans-flash memory card and the terminal and preventing the trans-flash memory card from breakage that may easily occur during installing and uninstalling due to its small size, thereby improving reliability of the terminal.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Nowadays, almost everyone possesses one or more portable wireless terminals owing to the rapidly developing electronic and communication industry. Therefore, users demand a terminal having various additional functions in addition to basic calling service, and accordingly terminals of various additional functions are consistently introduced into the market to satisfy such demand.
There are a number of additional functions in the portable wireless terminal: including basic Internet connection, video on demand (VOD), MP3 replay, digital camera using small-sized lens assembly, camcorder, access to various contents, and so on. That is, increasing numbers of functions, demanded in users' everyday life, are made possible with the wireless terminal.
To carry out the various functions, the terminal requires large memory capacity, and therefore terminal manufacturers are trying to make terminals that can efficiently use various kinds of removable memory cards such as MMC (Multimedia Card), SMC (Smart Media Card), xD (eXtreme Digital)-Picture Card, etc., besides basic built-in memory.
There are two typical sockets for installing a removable memory card (hereinafter also termed simply “memory card”).
One is a push-type memory card socket using a well-known hook switch. The push-type memory card socket is installed in a mainboard of a terminal, and the hook switch is installed beside the socket. To install a memory card, a user inserts the memory card into a memory card slot defined at an outer side of the terminal and pushes the memory card inwardly to allow an electrical contact between the memory card and the socket. To remove the memory card, the user pushes the memory card again in the inserting direction to make the hook switch release and eject the memory card. That is, the installing and uninstalling of the memory card are carried out by the pushing actions. However, the push-type socket is not suitable for a small-sized memory card because the small-sized memory card can be easily bent or damaged by the pushing actions.
The other is a hinge-type memory card socket that is proposed to obviate the problems of the push-type memory card socket. The hinge-type memory card socket includes a cover of which one end is rotatably mounted on an upper side of the socket for a hinge motion. To install a memory card, a user opens the cover, inserts the memory card in the socket, and closes the cover. That is, the hinge-type memory card socket can be used regardless of the size of the memory card. The hinge-type memory card socket, mounted on a mainboard, must be exposed to the outside of a terminal for the user to install the memory card, and therefore the exposed side of the hinge-type memory socket is typically located at a rear side of the terminal to protect the exposed socket with a battery pack. However, it is inconvenient for the user to power off the terminal and remove the battery pack prior to installing the memory card.
As described above, the two types of sockets are not suitable for recently introduced very small-sized memory cards such as a trans-flash memory card having a width of less than 1 mm.